Majoring in Aero Engineering

[Guest x-wing]

I'm going to be going to college very soon and I am interested in Aerospace Engineering. Has anyone on this site gotten their degree in this field?

If so what were the hardest parts of the process?

How bad is the math?

thanks

[PlanePhlyer]

I'm in my last semester as a Mechanical Engineering Studen and I would imagine the first 2 years of Aerospace and Mechanical are virtually the same. Expect Calculus 1, 2 and 3, probably Differential Equations, Calculus based Physics 1 and 2 as well as all your basic english and history classes. Junior and senior year is where you break into your specific major's classes. Expect a ridiculous amount of work, long hours and many sacrifices. In the end it'll be worth it because nobody can take your knowledge away. Any more questions feel free to ask.

PlanePhlyer

[Champ Kind]

PM flyinhigh, he majored in Aerospace Engineering at Iowa, and he's starting UPT at XL in February. He could probably help answer some questions.

[Guest Sundowner]

I got my AE degree three years ago. PlanePhlyer is right, the first two years are pretty much the same for all engineering majors. After that you can expect classes on aerodynamics, propulsion, controls, and structures (the hardest set of classes in my opinion).

The difficulty of the math depends on the individual. I was not very good at math and I struggled....ALOT! But I knew folks who had done well in their high school calculus class who said the college classes were easy in comparison.

Also, you should realize that you will have much harder work than the average college student. Especially in the beginning you are going to see folks skipping classes and sleeping all morning and getting 4.0s in their "majors". Pay them no mind and focus on your goals. In the end you'll be better off. My best advice is to try to do as well as you can your first couple of years and you will be that much more prepared for the upper level courses. Remember that if it were easy, everybody would do it.

[flynhigh]

I'll second everything Sundowner said. I just graduated, in May, with an Aero E degree and as he said, you WILL have to sacrifice alot! Depending on your university that you attend, you probably will also have other "Technical Electives" that you can take to tailor your degree to your specific interests. Iowa State offered an occasional class on V/STOL, always had an Advanced Astrodynamics class (the basic Astro class was required for your degree), there was also Composites, Vibrations, etc... Keep in mind your area of interest will probably change throughout your years of college. You may think you want to get into Structures, but after you take one or maybe even two classes (two were required for us) your outlook may change.

For me the hardest part of the process was studying every night of the week while my friends/roommates were partying it up. As far as the math, if you devote enough time to studying your Calc or Diff Eq then you'll be fine. Math is only hard if you don't study.

Good luck!

One more thing, when you earn your degree you can actually say that you're a rocket scientist...

[ 13. December 2004, 08:20: Message edited by: flynhigh ]

[Guest What?]

Does anyone here work at any of the major aerospace companies (i.e. Lockheed, Grumman, Raytheon) doing aerospace engineering stuff? what's a typical work day like? do you enjoy what you're doing? do people you work with seem happy about their jobs? I've heard that AE people have really hard times at work, they spend a lot of time in their job, working long hours and very few get to see the fruits of their labor, (the bigger picture) because they are given such small parts of the projects to work on (kinda like Computer Scientist). Is this true? I'm interested in getting a Masters in AE, but I did undergrad work in Computer Science. I don't really like computer science, my interest lies in Aerospace, airplanes, but I've never taken any AE classes nor do I have any idea what it's like to work full time at an AE company as a rocket scientist.

[flynhigh]

What?,

I had a summer internship at Cessna Aircraft during the summer of 2001 and got mixed comments from coworkers. I think it totally depends on what area you work in. I worked in the Production Support Engineering department and a lot of those guys seemed to have bigger goals, I guess it was more of an entry level type job. My roommate at the time worked in Product Engineering, or sustaining current products. He seemed to enjoy his work, worked a normal 8 hour day, and got along with his co-workers. He now is a flight test engineer on the V-22 out at NAVAIR in Patuxent River, MD, and loves his job. He travels alot, but for the most part I believe he works a normal 8 hour day.

Hope that helps.

[Guest Sundowner]

What?,

I'm working at Raytheon right now and I know folks working at every AC company in Wichita. It's really like any other career I suppose, some guys love their jobs some don't. Sitting in front of a CATIA scope or PC for 8 hrs a day is my version of hell but some guys will do drawings or stress programs all day if you let them. I think the trick is to find what you enjoy and work toward getting there.

As far as hours go, again it depends. If you're working a new program you may have to put in some long hours. Having said that, I got a friend at Airbus where they take every Friday afternoon off. It just depends on the individual's situation.

[hindsight2020]

Well, since nobody stepped up to the plate, here it comes, let's decypher the myth:

DO NOT GO INTO AEROSPACE ENGINEERING.

#1 The academics and job outlook

You will thank me in the end for what I'm about to tell you. First of all, the academics suck. You will be racking your brain out for years and years while your college buddies party it up. I don't know words that can describe the waste of time that it is. Do not be misled by those who say 'well, it IS hard work but if it was easy everybody would do it'. This is a flawed mentality in that it fails to recognize that you will not be rewarded for the extra effort. That is to say, the job AND the job outlook sucks. The market is FLOODED with engineering graduates as it is, getting a degree in aerospace engineering is to further dispossess yourself because it is so much less marketable than ANY of the other engineerings out there.

#2 The culture

There is an academic hazing culture that is particularly natural to aerospace engineering departments. I know this, I have been thru 3 aero departments! As people progress through this major they realize that the job outlook is bleek, so obtaining the best GPA and one-upping one another is key to obtain the 'coveted' internships that will get you ahead in terms of obtaining a job in the aerospace industry. If you wanted to work on pneumatic actuators for handicapped doors you wouldn't have gone AE but yet a lot of people end up doing just that cause they can't get shit for work. Back to the culture issue. So you will be put through the paces and in the event that you realize the waste of time and money that it is and jump ship you will be pressured by your peers who will mock you and tell themselves 'well, he couldn't hack it'. Believe me, on top of the already crummy social outlook you have basically self-imposed, you will also have the contempt and bitter competition of classmates and even professors that don't want you to succeed.

#3More on the job

So as a freshman you get into AE thinking NASA, thinking Raptor, thinking active-aerolastic wing morphing, thinking I will CHANGE THE WORLD!.... settle down buddy boy, not so fast....1969 is loooooonng gone,the freggin 777 was designed freggin centuries ago and this economy can't stomach R&D efforts to support the flooding of engineering graduates, let alone AE graduates, that it cranks out every year. You will not see the space shuttle in your work, you will not even see the the freggin tire of the space shuttle. You will work at Initech where every friday you will fear not having a job on Monday, and the closest you will get to experience the 'feeling' will be by running the 1000th version of the same crummy code for the god-forsaken nut and bolt #456463 in section #456 of panel #45.

#4More on the outlook

So at this point you are saying to yourself and getting a hard-on to the idea that it is worth the extra effort since it will all pay off in the end. Think again. Nursing has better salary outlook than aerospace engineering. You heard it here folks, nurses make more moola and we know the 'tough' time they had in college. That is IF, IF! you get a job. Job which by way I don't even want even if I could get it...but more on that later on in the post.

Another issue is the nature of the source. Why do you think all these other posters tell you it's all good?..Or the slightly more honest ones tell you 'it's not THAT BAD' ?¿ Look at bullet point #2. PUTTING FACE is every Aero engineer student's minor, forget all that 10th decimal place differentiation they like to masturbate to, 'oh I'm strucutres, oh well I'm propulsion on the other hand, well I'm dynamics' It's all crap we were all PUTTING FACE minors. You know what I discovered about that crap? When I started my masters in AE I couldn't even get stuff to do research on what I thought I had planned out for a specialty (what a joke!), the thing was THAT dead and this one kid I know who has been a PHD student for at least 4 years just switched to geology because in the time that he basically wasted his life he did a couple of publications in geology and eventually recognized he was farther along getting a phd in a concentration of geological-engineering sciences (which he did as a hobby mind you) than what he was doing 24/7. Waste of time son. Once again, consider the sources, I could make a whole post on 'where are they now' examples from countless ex-college buddies who underwent the AE myth right next to me and oh sweet Jesus you would forever kick yourself in the ass for even thinking about doing AE.

Either way you cut it is a loss. If you THINK this shit is remotely your passion, aviation technology and an MBA with aviation concentration will put you closer to being happy around airplanes. If the contention is money for you, son you're better off doing nursing and you will actually have an easier time and the extra moola will make you crack a smile considering the lesser work :D

#5 Do an experiment

Do an experiment, sit at the computer lab with all the other believers, do it at 3am, they will most likely STILL be there preocuppying themselves on why the 'for loop' they wrote in MATLAB is not flagging right. Do this, do it for 4 consecutive semesters, pretend you are getting paid 30K a year for it, (and yes monkeys that is what people are getting paid in AE, dream your dreams if you don't accept that) and then judge whether you have a passion for it. And if they tell you my account of the experience is the exception and not the rule, once again look at point #2. They are being disingenous. This is the rule son, this is reality in AE. Hell, people with other engineering degrees have a better chance at working in aerospace industry than YOU with an AE degree, how's that for an irony. An accountant I know at NASA has a higher starting salary than the top 3 or top 2 monkey that got the ONE starting-level engineering job at NASA :D

#6 So what's MY bias?

Simple, I did it cause I thought to myself 7 years ago that it would be smart for me to get as technical a degree as I could to be competitive to land a Viper slot. oh and btw as for why I'm still in this prison pursuing the MS in this crap? Cause it pays the crummy rent, I sit in class, pretending to listen to the professor that's spewing the same crap while I think about how many days I got till I get paid so I can go pay the rent. That's fresh out of undergrad. It was that stipend or going back home with ma' and pa' so I can go to the basement, nail that crummy diploma to the wall, stare at it and go work retail so I can eat...hell even with the stipend I work retail, how's that for using the rocket scientist line on Sears haha. Oh and for full disclosure, 3.85 GPA in AE Magna Cum Laude biotch... for those monkeys who think I must be one of 'those' who barely made it thru the degree by the way I talk about it. Listen, I never wanted to be an engineer to begin with so the job thing doesn't affect me much (other than my parent's frustration in knowing I never wanted to work this degree after all the cost). I did get the degree and realized that I ended up overkilling the matter and actually I'm better educated and qualified than a decent chunk of current -16 drivers when they were in my shoes, YET still can't get a slot (there's a lesson to be learned about hard work in that one too, so take notes :rolleyes: ) but that's another post altogether. I put this down so that you recognize the other posters bias, and my own bias regarding the matter. You make the decision. I hope you can learn from the hindsight of others and use it to your advantage. My one selling point would be to submit that I don't even want the job these monkeys comiserated about getting for 5+ years, so my discouraging of you from going AE in no way benefits me, I'm just another dude trying to fly -16s.

My .02 pesos, happy flying folks :cool:

[Bergman]

Originally posted by my_daddy_is_not_connected:

If you THINK this shit is remotely your passion, aviation technology and an MBA with aviation concentration will put you closer to being happy around airplanes. If

BRAVO! To me, the above quote really says it all about your post. If you're going to try engineering, ANY type of engineering, you need to want to be an engineer first and foremost. If your dreams of flying don't work out, you will be stuck being an engineer forever. If that fate doesn't appeal to you, don't even start the program.

I am a long since graduated Electrical Engineer who muddled my way through the program because: A) I had a full-ride ROTC scholarship in EE, B) I thought a technical degree would help me get a flight slot (it did...back in the day there was a multiplication factor for degree difficulty), and C) I thought it would help me land a good job after the Air Force. Looking back, I should have chosen a different major. It would have given me a higher GPA, more of a social life in college, and a better chance of finding a civilian job now that I am not full-time Air Force.

The fact of the matter is, and this is why I quoted that line specifically, that to stay in aviation you are much better off getting an Aviation Management, Safety, or Operations degree than an engineering degree. It turns out that the people with "soft"/people skills have: A) A much easier time finding jobs and B) Better long-term earning potential. How many CEOs are there with engineering degrees? Not many. The people that move up (in position and $$$) are the ones that can deal with PEOPLE, while the engineers are stuck in $60,000/year desk jobs forever..UNLESS they switch to management!

So back to my original point...if you don't enjoy engineering FOR ITS OWN SAKE, I would recommend against it.

[ 14. December 2004, 01:01: Message edited by: Bergman ]

[Guest Koozie]

my_daddy...

I think that might be the single greatest post I've seen on this forum! I only spent 2 1/2 years in AE then jumped ship, but I feel your pain.

My only advice is this...if you truly want to be an engineer, and only an engineer, fine, that's great. Go for it. If you want to be a pilot/nav or any other flying career, then...EJECTION HANDLES-RAISE. Don't even bother, just save yourself the trouble and get out while you have the chance to still actually enjoy college.

[flynhigh]

Originally posted by my_daddy_is_not_connected:

Listen, I never wanted to be an engineer to begin with

I think that sums up the post quite well. As you can probably tell, engineering is not for everyone. Or should I say Aerospace Engineering? Obviously there are some issues here. I guess my minor is coming in useful here... Any academic degree is what YOU make of it. There is going to be bull**** everywhere you go, learn to deal with it. But don't be the one dishing it out. As far as getting a pilot slot with an Aero degree, 3 of the last 5 guys at our det that graduated in Aero E got selected. I'm not sure if Reserves/National Guard is the topic of choice above but my point is that your degree has nothing to do with it. There is more to obtaining a pilot slot than just GPA, go look in the Pilot Selection Process forum.

There have been some other good points brought up in the posts above.

Originally posted by my_daddy_is_not_connected:

If you THINK this shit is remotely your passion, aviation technology and an MBA with aviation concentration will put you closer to being happy around airplanes.

If you want to be an engineer around airplanes, then do Aero E, if you just want to be around airplanes, take daddy's advice!

[ 14. December 2004, 08:11: Message edited by: flynhigh ]

[Guest goirishgo]

I just graduated with an AE degree in May from a school in the midwest whose football team has seen better days, but hopefully with the hiring of Charlie Weis, those days are soon to come... When I entered freshman year, I had plenty of people tell me there was no way I'd ever stay with it and on and on. Basically it comes down to what you want to do. You may find that it's interesting and if so, you'll stay with it. If you find it isn't your deal (and not because of the work load), then you will probably find something else. Does it affect your chances of getting a pilot slot? No, it does not. Will it ruin your social life? No, it won't. I seldom picked up a book on the weekend, and there were plenty of Thursday nights out, all in a challenging program at a challenging school. You just have to know how to budget your time and realize that none of your business major friends really give two shits how much work you have to do, so just get it done and go out with them on Thursday night. There were many days when I said to myself "this really sucks," but in the end I found it all pretty rewarding. You just have to figure out what your own goals are, and don't let anybody talk you in to or out of anything. It's not a question of whether you CAN do it but instead if you are willing and want to do it.

[Gravedigger]

I'm not a pilot(yet), AE major, or even graduate of college yet, but I would like to share my feelings on your situation. First off, if you are in desperate need of a scholarship, stick with a tehnical degree. Your chances are definitley better. If this is not the case, ask yoursef if you are willing to sacrifice the next four years of your life to get that coveted AE degree. Back to the scholarship thing, I know people that have bombed their first year of engineering, went on probation for it, and shot their chances for pilot in the ass. If all you want to do is fly, then go Management. I love the ease of my courses. I have free time to be active in the Det. And I have maintained a 3.5 with virtually no work. I believe wholeheartedly that college is just a formality, the Air Force will teach me everything they want me to know. Good luck with your decision, but remember that you really only get one shot at this game of life, don't regret anything you do, just try to keep moving forward and not looking back.

[Champ Kind]

Originally posted by c17wannabe:

I believe wholeheartedly that college is just a formality, the Air Force will teach me everything they want me to know. Good luck with your decision, but remember that you really only get one shot at this game of life, don't regret anything you do, just try to keep moving forward and not looking back.

I've gotta disagree with you here. Your degree is going to be a pretty big part of any resume you ever submit. While one may say, "I'm going to be a career military officer, what do I care about my degree?"... Well, in a perfect world, that may be the case. There are so many "what-ifs" that could kill a career that there really isn't any relevance in getting into that. You may commission and lead a very successful career and retire. Or, you may not. Then what? My point is that I believe you should (1) major in a subject that genuinely interests you (NOT in something driven by motivations for money or solely to get a pilot slot), and (2), if you don't like the technical field, don't major in it. Even if you get a pilot slot and make it through pilot training, its probable that you won't be flying forever.

I was told the very same thing by much older and wiser people (no offense intended c17wannabe) when I was in high school applying for ROTC scholarships: "If you want a scholarship, don't go for a non-technical major." Well, as it turns out, I was awarded a full Air Force scholarship, out of high school, and I recently graduated with a BA in Political Science, and I'm now about 4 months away from starting pilot training.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I think you should do what "feels right" to YOU, and not play the odds game. If it's meant to be, it will happen. If not, don't close any doors on yourself.

[Guest Sundowner]

Guess I'll wade back into this one...

This thread started because someone was "interested" in majoring in AE. I think we gave him some acurate feedback.

Now if all you want to do is become a pilot, there are a ton of degree granting institutions that would love to teach you to fly. If all you want to do is fly -16s, I would recommend looking into ROTC and picking a major that gives you a warm fuzzy. An AE degree (and I am speaking from experience) is not going to help you get a slot over a guy with an ATP and a degree in social sciences. It will help you get a job (and I know this is shocking) with an engineering company.

If you want to work around aircraft, December's issue of flight training has a whole section on aviation careers and schools. I found it very interesting.

Personally I went into engineering instead of a pro pilot course or other major because I was interested in the work and I know that if I can never fly because of health or any other reason, I can still work in an industry that I dig. (as opposed to nursing which just creeps me out)

[Gravedigger]

goirishgo, I realize that your education is important, but the specifics of your studies don't really seem to matter. Almost every Air Force officer i have met in the civilian world is doing a job other than their college major. Most of them relying on skills they acquired in the AF. My general point is that, you aren't going to be SOL if you don't get that AE degree, the AF is gonna make sure you can do your job, and do it well. And when you get out, you'll find that your service will weigh just as much as your degree, especially in management positions.

[Guest theflyboy1]

x-wing,

Do what you want to do, not what the people on here tell you to do. I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering and am working on my MS in Aerospace Engineering. Yes it's difficult, yes there is a larger workload, but saying there is not time for fun? Hardly. If engineering is for you, then I would suggest going mechanical with a concentration in aero courses. I forgot who said it, but it is a lot easier to get an ME job than an AE job. I work for BAE SYSTEMS that hired something like 20 ME's last year and no AE. There are only about 6 of us in our entire division (of about 6000). Not true for all companies, but something to consider.

If you want to major in something that's going to give you a 4.0, do something like psychology or sports management. If flying doesn't work out then you can always do what the psych and sports majors I graduated with do.... serve fries.

You can not go wrong with a technical background. I graduated with morons that were making over $50K to start, and those were kids in the bottom of the class.

PM me if you want any other info. Don't let comments from others keep you from doing what you want.

What?, For me the typical work day is pretty fun. Instead of working on a project entirely by yourself you work in more team-oriented groups. The electrical guys do their thing, the mechanical guys do theirs, and we make them do everything over again because it won't work usually. Work is not even close to as difficult as school is, no memorizing equations, just applying the theory you learn in school to real problems. IM me if you want more info.

tfb1

[hindsight2020]

Oh JHC,(starpping my harness)this is gonna hurt... here we go folks!.....

I knew the self-righteousness came from somewhere, a fellow engineering graduate no less....

Folks, consider tfb1's assertion about his pursuit of an Aero MS having a Mechanical Engineering BS. Kinda oxymoronic don't you think, after all NO AE's got hired at Initech, I mean BAE Systems....LOL Plus, if he's having so much fun, then why the hell quit? UPT?, nah that shit don't compare to engineering, 'inspite of earning 3 times as much', and that's a quote! What they got you working on buddy? running corrosion analysis on the office's coffee pot rim? oh shit I forgot, you must be project manager by now, after all that internship really got ya ahead! :D

"You can not go wrong with a technical background. I graduated with morons that were making over $50K to start, and those were kids in the bottom of the class."

LOL Point #2 of my thesis in the beginning.Like being in the top of a 'class' means anything LOL (pssssst x-wing for your information, I'll let ya in a little secret they hid from tfb1: they don't keep count on that shit! oh and one other thing: they throw your resume in the trash after the career fair is done...some contract employers have with universities to boost the Institution's image to prospective students and current to boot, where they agree to show face time at these career fairs in exchange for cuts of the research grants..sorta like a cartel, all this while the employer doesn't even need an extra 500 resumes on the already flooded electronic database where people scan and send them ) There is always people on this field spewing the "man I know all these people who ARE MAKING IT!" Remember the 'putting face' minor I told you about x-wing.

For every fallacy like the 50K moron above I got one counter-point to match it...conclusion? it's a wash. You know who's getting 60K at Raytheon fresh out of college?? This chick my girlfriend's roomate knows, who's a CS major, whose sister works at Raytheon,whose daddy is living it up swimming in cash in the Suburbs of Chicago,plus (I hate this fact) the girl is HOOTTT as hell, and they lined the job for her...

As far as the hard working engineering graduates? they're back home, right with my college buddies, or working non-related fields, or like myself, hiding in grad school for a little bit until we can get into UPT, or get 'decent flight instructing jobs' (perhaps an oxymoron of my own hehe). Oh and don't get me started on the rest of them really smart ones. These kids (international students for the most part) have no recourse in the pursuit of their degrees. They are one-upping one another in the pursuit of the one job at a defence company, yet examples like Raytheon girl just knocks the shit out of the pipedream speech tfb1 has for a recording on his voicemail greeting. I have these kids as co-workers and students and every day I do everything possible to give them real advice to help them, and I have seen them turn around and re-engage into the aviation technology department, get real marketable experience and have a HELL of a better time working around airplanes, since that's what most AE's REALLY got in the game for.

As for the morons tfb1 graduated with, well he's talking about the morons he pledged for in the same fraternity, folks who had shit lined up, yes we know he will deny this, like I told x-wing before, look at our minors for answers. Oh and to make sure this doesn't get sidetracked into university name-calling, this is not an issue of niche market one-company town with the regional college not employing me and the others, I'm talking big name universities as well, having, Georgia Tech, Purdue, Alabma under my own belt I've seen plenty of these dynamics and last time I checked the sun is still there after you take your hand off it trying to hide it. :rolleyes:

"If you want to major in something that's going to give you a 4.0, do something like psychology or sports management. If flying doesn't work out then you can always do what the psych and sports majors I graduated with do.... serve fries."

Classic engineering majors defense mechanism. In Fantasy Land people with engineering degrees, even if they are morons, cash out at 50K from the starting line, but street savvy non-technical majors manage a Burger King. That might need some pshyco-therapy to fix, what can I say.

As far as the fun factor, aside from the putting face (no need to beat a dead horse) aspect, another wash. Yeah SOME truly like engineering, but even those who do, get burned out. Don't ask me, ask the older pilots in the board OR career engineers on newsgroups and they'll tell ya how FUN it is to have to switch to working on printer toners after a 'joyful tour' working for an aerospace company...can anybody say 18-month job security? :D

[pcola]

Originally posted by my_daddy_is_not_connected:

Classic engineering majors defense mechanism. In Fantasy Land people with engineering degrees, even if they are morons, cash out at 50K from the starting line, but street savvy non-technical majors manage a Burger King. That might need some pshyco-therapy to fix, what can I say.

I don't know how it works in the Aero world, but it seems that daddy's view is a bit overly cynical, to put it nicely. I am an EE, and yes, I started out earning 50K right out of college. Within one year, I got a 10K raise. I left the job because it just doesn't compare with flying for the AF. If I had stayed, I would have had a few more guaranteed raises over the next few years. I was a DOD civilian employee, working on US Navy sonar equipment and had better job secruity than AD folks. The jobs are out there, you just have to know where to look and to have the right attitude.

Also, my daddy is not connected either. The only leg up I had in getting my job was a few points worth of veterans preference for my enlisted time and a good interview. (Yes, my job came from a University sponsored career fair!) I didn't have a stellar GPA, nor did I have any internships or go to a big name school. However, I worked right next to guys that were University of Illinois, Purdue, Rose Hulman, and Mich St. grads. They all made the same amount that I did. I can guarantee that if I hadn't had an engineering degree, I would have still been delivering pizzas all the way up until I started OTS. That is assuming I would have got in to OTS at all. I have no doubt that my degree and my professional work experience also gave me a leg up on the OTS app.

My recommendation: take daddy's opinions with a grain of salt. He's just one disgruntled guy who thinks that everybody must have the same problems as him. If you have the mental capacity, get the engineering degree. It is a good back up if flying doesn't work out. It will also give you good study habits that will help you out in UPT, and may even help you get to UPT.

[ 01. February 2005, 16:06: Message edited by: pcola stud ]

[JS]

I have to agree with PCola and Flyboy on this. Of the 15 or so dudes at my college who I graduated with who got engineering degrees (in any engineering field) in my year, the year before mine, and the year after mine, not one of them started out making less than $50K/year.

On the other side of the coin, I knew 3 guys (all in my fraternity) who graduated with history degrees. One was pumping gas (literally), one was working as a tour guide in Washington DC, and one was working construction (not construction management – construction, like hauling bricks and coming home each day with cut up "working hands")

Sure there are exceptions to the rule. I met people in the workplace with social science degrees who made decent money, and I am sure there are some engineers who don't make big bucks. But overall engineers typically make much more money and have much greater job opportunities than basket weaving major types. This only applies, of course, if the whole flying thing does not work out.

I would say major in a topic you enjoy and can successfully complete a degree in. It would be nice to have a technical or business degree to fall back on, but it is obviously not for everyone.

[TacAirCoug]

JS: I would say major in a topic you enjoy and can successfully complete a degree in. It would be nice to have a technical or business degree to fall back on, but it is obviously not for everyone.

Couldn't agree more. I spent 2 years trying to hack my way through EE because I thought I needed to in order to get a pilot slot, not because I liked it. Bad move, and my GPA suffered as a result. Once I realized this, I switched to a non-tech major that I enjoyed, brought my GPA back up, and scored that pilot slot.

[Guest Taxcollector]

I was just curious for the guys who have an engineering degree/ or pursuing and engineering degree.

Specifically aerospace/aeronautical

I'm interested in the above:

What exactly are they?

What classes are involved?

Experiences you had?

What you thought?

I'm wanting to give myself options once I graduate to possibly going into test flying. And after that possibly becoming an astronaut.

But i don't want to set a trap for myself and get bad grades because before trying to become a test pilot/astronaut I have to get accepted for UPT. And I'm not even sure whether I would like the course or not, I think it looks real interesting. Any suggestions that you could give?

Anyway that I could see if I like aerospace/aeronautical engineering before actually commiting myself?

Thanks

Tax

[hindsight2020]

Hey tax collector,

That topic was visited recently, complete with name-calling and the works, some insight into what you might be interested.

http://www.dynamictruth.com/cgi-bin/ultima...t=001792#000000

The thread title is aerospace engineering if you prefer to search for it yourself.

Regarding the test pilot, astronaut thing, I'll once again point you to read thru the thread I mentioned. Good luck

[Guest kirkhac]

I got my degree in Aerospace engineering. If you have any questions that were not answered in the other thread feel free to PM me.